Review of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) by Filipeneto — 22 Jan 2020

It is not as bad as it is usually said.

I'm not exactly the type of person who likes movies based on computer games. There is always something that doesn't go very well. This film confirms that. It's not entirely bad, it has enough action to entertain us, but it's not the type of film I think is excellent.

The script is based on the travels and adventures of Lara Croft, a trained and beautiful English noblewoman who travels around the world in search of the rarest historical and mystical artifacts. It is a kind of Indiana Jones with skirts, or rather, shorts. Of course, archeology has nothing to do with theft and violation of tombs or temples or whatever, but the film, like the game, doesn't care about that. In this film, she has to fight the Illuminati, which seeks a long-lost artifact but, when reconstituted, would allow it to control Time. Without knowing it, she had a part of the artifact all the time, because her late father, whose death was never clear, had taken that object. Then, the adventure comes to her.

The plot is quite simple and not very credible, but those looking for these films usually don't care about that. It is all just a pretext to go to a jungle in a lost corner of the world and kick and shoot some bad guys. The fast pace of the film, associated with good action scenes where, as always, Lara Croft escapes danger by a hair, helps us to swallow and keeps us entertained. Without having to think too much (if we make the film it falls apart), the film goes on until the end, giving us a series of special effects that are not very interesting and clearly made on a computer.

Angelina Jolie needed money and notoriety. After a career started from the bottom, in short films and on TV, she had looked good in "Bone Collector" but it was "60 Seconds" that allowed her to become a sex symbol if she wanted to. This film consolidated that, giving notoriety to the actress' big breasts and allowing her to rise in her career and solidify her stardom. The fact that she was the only actress with some dramatic talent in this film helped her. The support cast was practically demoted to extras with lines. In fact, although the film took advantage of Jolie's generous physical attributes, she showed that she was not just a woman with a desirable body. There was talent there and the ability to do more, if given the right role. This was a sure bet, as the future would show.

The film is no wonder, but it is not as bad as it was said. If you look for a movie just to entertain without having to think hard and be watching it carefully, that kind of movie we see while talking to someone or doing something else, this will be a good bet.